Abstract
The
purpose of this article is to treat a currently much debated issue,
the effects of age on second language learning. To do so, we contrast
data collected by our research team from over one thousand seven hundred
young and adult learners with four popular beliefs or generalizations,
which, while deeply rooted in this society, are not always corroborated
by our data.
Two of
these generalizations about Second Language Acquisition (languages spoken
in the social context) seem to be widely accepted: a) older children,
adolescents and adults are quicker and more efficient at the first stages
of learning than are younger learners; b) in a natural context children
with an early start are more liable to attain higher levels of proficiency.
However, in the context of Foreign Language Acquisition, the context
in which we collect the data, this second generalization is difficult
to verify due to the low number of instructional hours (a maximum of
some 800 hours) and the lower levels of language exposure time provided.
The design
of our research project has allowed us to study differences observed
with respect to the age of onset (ranging from 2 to 18+), but in this
article we focus on students who began English instruction at the age
of 8 (LOGSE Educational System) and those who began at the age of 11
(EGB). We have collected data from both groups after a period of 200
(Time 1) and 416 instructional hours (Time 2), and we are currently
collecting data after a period of 726 instructional hours (Time 3).
We have designed and administered a variety of tests: tests on English
production and reception, both oral and written, and within both academic
and communicative oriented approaches, on the learners' L1 (Spanish
and Catalan), as well as a questionnaire eliciting personal and sociolinguistic
information.
The questions
we address and the relevant empirical evidence are as follows:
1.
"For young children, learning languages is a game. They enjoy it
more than adults."
Our data demonstrate that the situation is not quite so. Firstly, both
at the levels of Primary and Secondary education (ranging from 70.5%
in 11-year-olds to 89% in 14-year-olds) students have a positive attitude
towards learning English. Secondly, there is a difference between the
two groups with respect to the factors they cite as responsible for
their motivation to learn English: the younger students cite intrinsic
factors, such as the games they play, the methodology used and the teacher,
whereas the older students cite extrinsic factors, such as the role
of their knowledge of English in the achievement of their future professional
goals.
2 ."Young
children have more resources to learn languages."
Here our data suggest just the opposite. The ability to employ learning
strategies (actions or steps used) increases with age. Older learners'
strategies are more varied and cognitively more complex. In contrast,
younger learners depend more on their interlocutor and external resources
and therefore have a lower level of autonomy in their learning.
3.
"Young children don't talk much but understand a lot"
This third generalization does seem to be confirmed, at least to a certain
extent, by our data in relation to the analysis of differences due to
the age factor and productive use of the target language. As seen above,
the comparably slower progress of the younger learners is confirmed.
Our analysis of interpersonal receptive abilities demonstrates as well
the advantage of the older learners. Nevertheless, with respect to passive
receptive activities (for example, simple recognition of words or sentences)
no great differences are observed. Statistical analyses suggest that
in this test, in contrast to the others analyzed, the dominance of the
subjects' L1s (reflecting a cognitive capacity that grows with age)
has no significant influence on the learning process.
4.
"The sooner they begin, the better their results will be in written
language"
This is not either completely confirmed in our research. First of all,
we perceive that certain compensatory strategies disappear only with
age, but not with the number of instructional hours. Secondly, given
an identical number of instructional hours, the older subjects obtain
better results. With respect to our analysis of data from subjects of
the same age (12 years old) but with a different number of instructional
hours (200 and 416 respectively, as they began at the ages of 11 and
8), we observe that those who began earlier excel only in the area of
lexical fluency.
In conclusion,
the superior rate of older learners appears to be due to their higher
level of cognitive development, a factor which allows them to benefit
more from formal or explicit instruction in the school context. Younger
learners, however, do not benefit from the quantity and quality of linguistic
exposure typical of a natural acquisition context in which they would
be allowed to make use of implicit learning abilities. It seems clear,
then, that the initiative in this country to begin foreign language
instruction earlier will have positive effects only if it occurs in
combination with either higher levels of exposure time to the foreign
language, or, alternatively, with its use as the language of instruction
in other areas of the curriculum.
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On
the effects of age on school foreign language learning,
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